chore day

Leo's in charge of vacuuming. 

now nine

Happy Birthday, Happy Henry! You are gold to us, a thoughtful, thinking creature whose voice fluctuates between loud, nonsensical exclamations to quiet, solemn questions about the world and people and things. You are busy and bustling. You are slow and steady. You are a little bit weird and a whole lot funny.

One day, after a particularly rough time at the table - maybe you weren't listening, maybe you weren't sitting down, maybe you were bugging your sibling neighbour - voices were raised and threats of no dessert were made. Let's be honest... this is not uncommon. But on this one day, instead of getting mad or pouting or even being obedient, you got back up from the table and demanded in the most urgent of voices, "Would someone just give me a hug?!" You, Henry, know what you need and it's usually that - a hug, a squeeze, a head massage... anything that will comfort and bring you back to where you need to be (uh in this instance, it was still the table). Thank you for your hugs and holding on so tight, and reminding us when we need to do the same.

We love you, Henry! Happy Birthday!!

still eight

Maybe once I took someone's picture the night before their birthday and then said something like, "This is your birthday eve portrait." And, now, it's a thing we do because they tell me to. After supper tonight, Henry told me, "Tomorrow is my birthday. You need to take my picture." So, here he is, in his last few hours of being eight, as he truly is. As much as he likes to run and play and be loud and sing crazy songs, he likes to sit and read and think and listen to music. So this is Henry, as I see him and will remember him being eight.

wedgie

Sometimes baby pants don't have the nicest cut. Sometimes.

trust me... he does crawl

now and then

September has been a busy month of painting and rearranging. It all has to do with Leo... the guy needs his own room so he can learn how to sleep. So Jane had to move out of her room and in with her big sisters. Which means the three girls needed a bigger room. So they kicked the boys out of their room, and the brothers moved into the girls' room. Then Leo moved into Jane's old room. And this meant... painting and rearranging. We are almost (almost) done with hanging shelves and decorating walls but, happily, everyone is sleeping in beds in their new rooms (well, except Leo... we're still working on that).

But today, as Joe sat on the floor with his Pokemon cards with the sun shining in, I remembered when we first moved into this house. This was his original room. He's back where he started... only just a little bigger.

book learners

Here we are, hanging out while everyone else is at school. Jane passes her time looking at books. Leo spends the day tossing books off the shelf. And that pretty much fills up the hours.

big mac

Happy Birthday, Jonah!

Also, if you are looking for someone to decorate a cake for you, you should hire Lily. She's awesome.

a pair of monkeys

Leo's t-shirt is a hand-me-down from Joe (see?)... David's t-shirt has always been his.

back to school

Okay, we can do better than that picture. Here is the gang, all ready to go whether they like it or not.

Joe, grade 6.

Henry, grade 4.

Annie, grade 2.

Clara, starting kindergarten!

And Janie, missing everyone at home.

blech to school

Joe is super happy.

ten months

Here he is, our resident 10-month-old! He's a growing, sturdy fellow. Leo is desperately trying to crawl, getting his bum up in the air and revving his engines on all fours... but usually landing on his nose. Two (gigantic) top teeth have popped out in the last couple of days. And he is a loud guy, joining in our supper stories or singing with the Church choir with long, loud proclamations of "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH."

We love all the bits and pieces of our Leo, and we're having a lot of fun with his blooming personality. Leo!

check list

Look like we did everything on our list... I guess we can go back to school now....